Film Review: Pet Sematary – 3 stars (out now)

This latest Stephen King adaptation to get the reboot treatment follows on from the box-office success of IT, so it’s no surprise that his back-catalogue is getting a cinematic dusting off. The trouble is Pet Sematary wasn’t a particularly good film in the first place, and this version does try hard but the shackles of the story and the absurdity of the set-pieces sees to it that this is a forgettable and unintentionally funny affair. A family move to a rural town in the hope of finding some peace, but part of their property line houses ancient Native American land that can raise the dead. When their dead cat returns with a chip on its shoulder, it starts a horrific (ly funny) chain of events. Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz and John Lithgow transcend the script, but Pet Sematary won’t stay with you for very long after the end credits roll.